Bias in America's Media
In James S. Miller’s essay “Scenes and Un-Scenes: Picturing Disaster,” he states, “While it may purport to show us ‘the way things are,’ the truth is that every image bears traces of some slant or bias, intentional or not” (qtd. in Miller 160). Miller’s statement describes an issue that has permeated news outlets across America. Media across this country is tainted with bias. Miller continues in the essay to explain that American media outlets portray events occurring around the world with a biased slant. He uses the specific example of Hurricane Sandy, explaining that it was depicted as a devastating natural occurrence by some organizations and as a political event by others (160-163). Miller’s claim in the essay is legitimate; the media in the United States consistently presents incidents in society with some sort of bias. Episode 1165 of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on CNN is a prime example. Instead of allowing viewers to form personal opinions, the show forced its own narrative. This broadcast accomplished this through techniques that are similar to other daily news shows. The media in modern America creates bias on national news broadcasts through the order of the stories, the impact of the images, and the words of the anchors.
Stories on national news programs are strategically ordered by importance according to the news organization. Viewers are first shown what the organization thinks is paramount followed by less outstanding narratives. On episode 1165 of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, the first story of the night was about a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Several pieces about Donald Trump followed, along with a story about North Korea and Kim Jong Un. The final narrative was about forest fires sweeping across California. Based on the order the stories were presented on CNN, mass shootings, Donald Trump, and North Korea are more important than a natural disaster that has affected thousands of Americans in the West. The organization implied to its audience that a story about a country across the globe is more pertinent than a report on a disaster that has caused death and destruction and left a great number of American citizens homeless. News stations begin their programming with what they feel is the most important story of the day, and typically they close with a minor event that may only affect a handful of people. While the Las Vegas shooting is a major event with tremendous social and political impact, the order of the other stories forced viewers to think that, compared to Donald Trump’s tweets, forest fires should be an afterthought. Unfortunately, the structure of the news program was not the only way the episode created bias; CNN’s slant was also forced upon audience members through the images shown during the broadcast.
The images presented on the news program demonstrated that CNN wants viewers to look at events in a specific way. One picture shown was of Donald Trump smiling on a golf course. The image was displayed during a story about a feud the president was having with a member of the Senate. CNN did not want to focus on the feud between the president and the senator, but rather used the opportunity to paint the commander in chief as lazy and uncaring as he took the day off to play golf at a country club. Another image shown was of missiles being launched in North Korea. The story this picture accompanied was about Kim Jong Un’s sister who was recently promoted in North Korea’s government. Before showing the face of Un’s sister, CNN chose to show the image of the missiles. The program wanted to portray North Korea and its leaders as a dangerous threat that Americans should fear. At no point in the story were the missiles tied to the promotion of Un’s sister. The images shown on the episode helped push CNN’s biased narrative of affairs occurring around the world; sadly, this was not the final way the episode created a slant during the broadcast.
The reporters working for CNN used words and phrases that pushed viewers to believe the narrative the network had created. During the story about Kim Jong Un’s sister being appointed to a position of influence, an anchor for CNN described the government buildings in North Korea as “dangerous halls of power” (“Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer”). His specific choice of words were intended to make viewers picture North Korea as a threatening country whose officials sit inside their offices and plot to destroy the world. Earlier in the broadcast, Donald Trump was said to be in a “Twitter war” with a United States senator (Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer). By using these specific words, CNN painted the president as a ridiculous and dangerous man who will engage his enemies in combat on the internet. The men and women on the news broadcast chose to fill their stories with expressions that showed a clear bias. Viewers were presented facts that were tainted by the remarks made by reporters at CNN.
National news broadcasts in the United States are littered with biases that can be found in the order of the stories, the impact of the images, and the words of the reporters. The media forces a specific narrative on viewers instead of presenting facts and allowing viewers to form personal opinions on current events. James S. Miller is correct in his essay “Scenes and Unscenes: Picturing Disaster” to say that there is some kind of slant or bias in every piece of media. Evidence of this bias could be seen on episode 1165 of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on CNN and can be found on other national news broadcasts. News organizations in America present citizens stories that are filled with bias. Rather than letting audience members see the way events are, media companies tell viewers how to think and how to feel.
Works Cited
Miller, James S. “Scenes and Un-Scenes: Picturing Disaster.” Acting out Culture , 3rd ed., Bedford St. Martin's, 2015, pp. 160–163.
“Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, episode 1165, Cable News Network, 9 Oct. 2017.
Stories on national news programs are strategically ordered by importance according to the news organization. Viewers are first shown what the organization thinks is paramount followed by less outstanding narratives. On episode 1165 of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, the first story of the night was about a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Several pieces about Donald Trump followed, along with a story about North Korea and Kim Jong Un. The final narrative was about forest fires sweeping across California. Based on the order the stories were presented on CNN, mass shootings, Donald Trump, and North Korea are more important than a natural disaster that has affected thousands of Americans in the West. The organization implied to its audience that a story about a country across the globe is more pertinent than a report on a disaster that has caused death and destruction and left a great number of American citizens homeless. News stations begin their programming with what they feel is the most important story of the day, and typically they close with a minor event that may only affect a handful of people. While the Las Vegas shooting is a major event with tremendous social and political impact, the order of the other stories forced viewers to think that, compared to Donald Trump’s tweets, forest fires should be an afterthought. Unfortunately, the structure of the news program was not the only way the episode created bias; CNN’s slant was also forced upon audience members through the images shown during the broadcast.
The images presented on the news program demonstrated that CNN wants viewers to look at events in a specific way. One picture shown was of Donald Trump smiling on a golf course. The image was displayed during a story about a feud the president was having with a member of the Senate. CNN did not want to focus on the feud between the president and the senator, but rather used the opportunity to paint the commander in chief as lazy and uncaring as he took the day off to play golf at a country club. Another image shown was of missiles being launched in North Korea. The story this picture accompanied was about Kim Jong Un’s sister who was recently promoted in North Korea’s government. Before showing the face of Un’s sister, CNN chose to show the image of the missiles. The program wanted to portray North Korea and its leaders as a dangerous threat that Americans should fear. At no point in the story were the missiles tied to the promotion of Un’s sister. The images shown on the episode helped push CNN’s biased narrative of affairs occurring around the world; sadly, this was not the final way the episode created a slant during the broadcast.
The reporters working for CNN used words and phrases that pushed viewers to believe the narrative the network had created. During the story about Kim Jong Un’s sister being appointed to a position of influence, an anchor for CNN described the government buildings in North Korea as “dangerous halls of power” (“Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer”). His specific choice of words were intended to make viewers picture North Korea as a threatening country whose officials sit inside their offices and plot to destroy the world. Earlier in the broadcast, Donald Trump was said to be in a “Twitter war” with a United States senator (Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer). By using these specific words, CNN painted the president as a ridiculous and dangerous man who will engage his enemies in combat on the internet. The men and women on the news broadcast chose to fill their stories with expressions that showed a clear bias. Viewers were presented facts that were tainted by the remarks made by reporters at CNN.
National news broadcasts in the United States are littered with biases that can be found in the order of the stories, the impact of the images, and the words of the reporters. The media forces a specific narrative on viewers instead of presenting facts and allowing viewers to form personal opinions on current events. James S. Miller is correct in his essay “Scenes and Unscenes: Picturing Disaster” to say that there is some kind of slant or bias in every piece of media. Evidence of this bias could be seen on episode 1165 of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on CNN and can be found on other national news broadcasts. News organizations in America present citizens stories that are filled with bias. Rather than letting audience members see the way events are, media companies tell viewers how to think and how to feel.
Works Cited
Miller, James S. “Scenes and Un-Scenes: Picturing Disaster.” Acting out Culture , 3rd ed., Bedford St. Martin's, 2015, pp. 160–163.
“Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, episode 1165, Cable News Network, 9 Oct. 2017.